Air pistol shooter Annu Raj Singh was understandably thrilled to have won a silver medal and an Olympic quota place, as she discussed her plans to prepare in earnest for the London Games, on return from the World Cup in the U.S. here on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Air India employee, expecting promotions following her good performances in international competitions in recent times, said that it was a huge relief for her to have achieved the goal of clinching the quota place this season.
''Only Sonia Rai and Heena Sidhu have won World Cup pistol medals. It was great that I could win a silver, despite not shooting so well in the final'', said Annu Raj, who had beaten the European champion Celine Goberville of France by 0.3 points to avoid the bronze.
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Phenomenal score
It was a phenomenal score of 389, that equalled the national record held by Harveen Srao, that had put Annu Raj in the lead along with the eventual gold medallist Olena Kostevych of Ukraine. She said that she was confident of such a good score as she had shot 385 and 386 in the trials back home, and that her scores were improving with every outing in the World Cups this season in Sydney (377) and Changwon (382).
''I was in good form, and everything happened nicely for me that day'', said Annu Raj.
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It was a commendable fare as Annu Raj had started with a card of 94, but recovered to shoot 97, 99 and 99.
''I had been used to having bad starts, so it was not a problem for me, once I settled into a good rhythm'', said Annu Raj.